I'm playing 3.0 right now in the upstate of South Carolina and we're 3-0 so far. Our first match was 5-0, second match was 3-2, and our match today we won 5-0. What is your rating and how is your team doing?

Jim A

03-07-2009, 03:19 PM

must be nice to start so early in the year, we don't start until May in my area
good luck with your season

EasleyTennis

03-07-2009, 03:23 PM

must be nice to start so early in the year, we don't start until May in my area
good luck with your season

Oh really, what area do you live in if you don't mind my asking. Yeah we have 12 matches so it will be a pretty long season actually.

Jim A

03-07-2009, 03:36 PM

I'm in the Intermountain section, we don't start until May I think its 9/10 weeks

cak

03-07-2009, 08:04 PM

My senior team lost in the first round of playoffs. Regular season starts in April. I see 19 teams in our sub district, I'm guessing two flights, 8 or 9 matches a piece.

pmacino

03-08-2009, 07:26 PM

3.0 / We are 2-1.

Our team is a lot of the 2.5 team that placed 3rd at nationals last year who moved up...Our loss is to a 3.0 that went to nationals last year.

PacNW (Seattle)

ttbrowne

03-09-2009, 06:28 AM

Played our first 3.5 yesterday. Lost 4-1. Our #1 singles guy was the lone winner.

seleswannabe

03-09-2009, 09:52 AM

First time poster but long time lurker ;-) I am captain of a ladies 3.0 team in Kalamazoo Mich. We went 10-0 for EarlyStart and won our first match of the season last week (4-1). Hoping to make it another strong season!

EasleyTennis

03-09-2009, 10:28 AM

First time poster but long time lurker ;-) I am captain of a ladies 3.0 team in Kalamazoo Mich. We went 10-0 for EarlyStart and won our first match of the season last week (4-1). Hoping to make it another strong season!

Congrats on the win, and Kalamazoo..what a name!

seleswannabe

03-09-2009, 10:43 AM

^^I know! Our claim to fame is Derek Jeter, Lindsey Tarpley (US Women's Soccer) and The Boy’s Junior National Tennis Championships. Other than that.....we are just a weird name : )

EasleyTennis

03-09-2009, 10:56 AM

^^I know! Our claim to fame is Derek Jeter, Lindsey Tarpley (US Women's Soccer) and The Boy’s Junior National Tennis Championships. Other than that.....we are just a weird name : )

Hey that's more fame than my town can claim, although Michigan is too cold for me..especially for tennis!

pmacino

03-09-2009, 12:42 PM

^^I know! Our claim to fame is Derek Jeter, Lindsey Tarpley (US Women's Soccer) and The Boy’s Junior National Tennis Championships. Other than that.....we are just a weird name : )
You forgot the Wings! :)

Topaz

03-09-2009, 05:33 PM

Our indoor league doesn't start until mid to late April, and outdoor will start in May. Last year we had 23 teams in our 3.5 indoor league...yes, that was 22 matches! :shock: I have a feeling we will be split up into two flights this year.

We are in the middle of our mixed season right now. 7.0. And...the team? Not doing so hot.

thanatos2948

03-09-2009, 05:56 PM

I'm a Western Michigan University Alumni and I can tell you Kalamazoo made an awesome college town. Where are you playing in Kalamazoo this time of year?

seleswannabe

03-10-2009, 10:12 AM

^^ I play year round (indoors) at West Hills Athletic Club. It's a pretty decent club and they have pretty good teaching pro's.
I am a MSU grad so I don't know a ton about WMU, but I hear it's a great school. I think their Men's Tennis Team is pretty solid too. They practice /play at our club.

Lendl

03-10-2009, 03:55 PM

I play at West Hills almost daily and play for the men's 4.5 team. We play two sessions per year and just took second in the Winter and start the summer in a couple weeks. Only four teams in the 4.5 unfortunately.

thanatos2948, what year did you graduate?

thanatos2948

03-10-2009, 05:55 PM

I graduated in 1996. I am out in Denver Colorado now and let me tell you the weather here is a lot better for tennis than back in Michigan. I miss the great lakes and Bell's beer though!

Lendl

03-11-2009, 02:49 PM

I'll have some Oberon for you.

I graduated in 1996. I am out in Denver Colorado now and let me tell you the weather here is a lot better for tennis than back in Michigan. I miss the great lakes and Bell's beer though!

Jim A

03-11-2009, 08:46 PM

Thanatos - who are you playing with when the leagues start up out here?

thanatos2948

03-11-2009, 08:53 PM

I will be playing with APR GOLD out of Aurora Parks and Rec. We will be using Utah park as our home courts. I'm jealous of Lendl right now because he can have Oberon and I can't.

Jim A

03-11-2009, 09:12 PM

great, what level? I think I'm playing out of Wash Park and maybe the JCC as well depending on how many nights I am allowed out :)

I'll take good ol Avery Brewing Company over most any other beer out there...a nice tour on a weekend with some of their stuff on tap that almost never makes it to retail and an avg content of 9% or greater...but there are some good stuff in MI

thanatos2948

03-11-2009, 10:04 PM

I play at the 3.5 level. Avery makes some good beers with Karma and White Rascal being a couple of my favorites. I've tried a lot of beers here in colorado and nothing quite matches up with Bells Oberon, Amber, or Two-Hearted Ale. Favorite brewery out here so far is Odell, every beer they make is delicious.

gould2000

03-12-2009, 07:12 AM

Playing 6.0 Mixed for my first USTA league in Western NY. Having a great time and my team is 4-0 so far. I am 3-0 and loving it. I am a fighting a chest cold and hoping I can pull out a win this Saturday

Rob Johnson

03-12-2009, 07:39 AM

My 2.5 adult team is at 2-2 right now, and we're tied with the other two teams record wise, but we're actually winning as we've won the most courts.

Our league is evenly balanced though, as the team we've beaten twice has beaten the team twice that has beaten us twice (read that a few times...it'll make sense).

SlapShot

03-12-2009, 07:39 AM

My 4.0 team is 3-5 right now, but we lost 2 matches 2-3 with multiple matches going into third set breakers. :(

My 7.0 mixed team is 6-1, and has only lost 4 matches total - tough group of folks. I feel like we've got the depth to make a dent at nationals, provided we can make it there.

jms007

03-12-2009, 08:40 AM

Just joined a league for the first time at 3.0. First meet: 0-5 in matches, 0-10 in sets, 13-60 in games. Ouch.

pmacino

03-13-2009, 10:45 PM

We won our match again tonight barely..eeked out a 3-2 win and we are now in 2nd Place in our flight of 10 teams @ 3-1 as a team.

pmacino

03-13-2009, 10:51 PM

Just joined a league for the first time at 3.0. First meet: 0-5 in matches, 0-10 in sets, 13-60 in games. Ouch.

That happened to us our first match...We were 1-4 matches, 3-7 in sets and 26-60 in games.

We've gone 3-0 since then, you'll be fine...have fun :)

EasleyTennis

03-14-2009, 09:22 AM

Our match got rained out today, this is the 2nd rain out of this season. Not cool imo.

ttbrowne

03-25-2009, 07:01 PM

I'm on four teams. 3.5, 3.5 seniors, 4.0 seniors, 6.0 w/ wife.

We're about .500 (all added together)

pmacino

03-25-2009, 09:54 PM

We're on to 4-1 (won our last 4) and about halfway through our flight...fingers crossed for momentum!

raiden031

04-01-2009, 03:17 AM

My 8.0 mixed team is in first place.
My 7.0 mixed team is in last place.

I am 3-1 so far. Looking forward to the men's league starting soon.

Topaz

04-01-2009, 04:42 AM

My 8.0 mixed team is in first place.
My 7.0 mixed team is in last place.

I am 3-1 so far. Looking forward to the men's league starting soon.

Raiden, did you ever get to plaly for the 8.0 team, or is that ending up to be somewhat of a bust?

raiden031

04-01-2009, 01:11 PM

Raiden, did you ever get to plaly for the 8.0 team, or is that ending up to be somewhat of a bust?

Played a match and won in 3 (although it should have been 2), and scheduled for another one coming up.

Topaz

04-01-2009, 01:39 PM

^^^Good job...glad to hear you're finally playing/going to play!

Jim A

04-01-2009, 02:08 PM

I would love to be able to play multiple divisions per season, unfortunately Intermountain-CO doesn't allow it.

It hurts when putting together teams at certain levels (i.e 4.0/4.5 women)

My team won today 5-0. We are 5 and 0 for the year and have only lost 2 matches so far. Finally some decent weather, we have a make up match tomorrow as well.

duketennisgal

04-07-2009, 03:34 AM

My 4.5 team is 4-1. We started off the season with several injuries so we lost our first match but have been doing well since then. Right now we are in first place but we still have 6 or 7 matches left so I know it is going to be tough to hold on to first as the league is pretty tough.

pmacino

05-19-2009, 06:42 PM

Thought I would kick this one back up...

Any big changes?

We're still winning and are at 7-1 in our flight with one match to go. We can finish no less than second and are getting into playoff mode in our practices and line-ups. We seem to be getting stronger each week and hopefully we haven't peaked yet.

On the down-side, as the B Flight #2 team, we'll have to play the A Flight's number 1 team in our district...and that happens to be our shop's other team in our NTRP....bummer that we both won't have the opportunity to advance as it looks to play out.

Jim A

05-19-2009, 06:54 PM

We're 2-0 so far, I've played one singles and won in 3 sets, just hung around long enough for my game to show up. Working construction all day hasn't been beneficial :).

The next 2 weeks have some strong competition. Tomorrow against a group of older men who are going to test our patience and another against the prohibitive favorite who held out their best last week and took an 3-2 loss, if we beat them they are essentially done (it will take 9-0, maybe 8-1 to win our flight) and we can focus on 1-2 other matches later in the year.

I'm not sure if its helping or hurting, but most of my hitting has been with 4.0 men and women lately. It's a good way to work on my weaknesses at the higher levels and am hoping it allows me to feel like the match is in slo-mo tomorrow

SlapShot

05-20-2009, 09:08 AM

Summer season just started.

We're 0-2 so far (Men's 4.0), with one close match (2 breakers, lost both, lost the match 2-3) and one not so close (lost 1-4 to a team that we should not have lost to).

Personally, I'm 2-0 at #1 dubs, with both wins coming in straight sets.

Grover Sparkman

05-20-2009, 09:39 AM

My winter team won our league and is playing in the state tournament next month. My summer team, consisting of 4 players from the winter team (and not even be best 4) is 2-0 in our singles league.

Jim A

05-20-2009, 08:29 PM

3-0 after tonight, won 4-1 with our #2 dubs rallying from 5-3/40-0 down in the 3rd to take it in the tiebreak for best match of the night. Won my singles but need to play better, worked on hitting 5+ balls per point to get some consistency going.

SlapShot

05-21-2009, 05:25 AM

Alright....first team victory of the season. Won our match 3-2 on a third set tiebreak.

My dubs partner and I are now 3-0, but we dropped the first set in a breaker last night. Third set breaker score was 15-13. Nail-biter for sure.

Cindysphinx

05-21-2009, 05:47 AM

1-2 and in big trouble.

Got one good player out with TE.

Got lots of players for court three, few players for court one.

Had one new and promising doubles partnership dissolve.

Singles players have won only one match (through retirement) and have won no sets in the three singles matches that have been played to completion. We have a lot of singles players and they have been practicing, but they just can't seem to find a way to win just yet.

Playing a tough team tonight. Ugh.

[edit: Oooh, just got a lead on a top doubles player looking for an additional team. No two-player problem. Wins consistently on Court One. Perhaps the cavalry has come to the rescue?]

vizsla

05-21-2009, 09:58 AM

4.0 team won state this past weekend. 3.5 team has state a week from Saturday.

Jim A

05-27-2009, 07:46 PM

4-0 after a tough 3-2 win tonight vs one of the better teams. We have to navigate through some player rotations the next couple weeks and hopefully will hold the course. Right now our games/sets lost are in good shape if we get into a tiebreaker

defriend

06-01-2009, 01:41 PM

My team is half way thru the season with 6-1. We made play-offs last year and lost in the first round. Tie-breaks killed us, so practicing a lot of those...

Nick
Middle States Division

Jim A

06-05-2009, 07:21 AM

Lost last week, now 4-1. Need to win out in order to reach the playoffs and have a little help without getting heavy into tiebreakers

It came down to my match and I couldn't get it done, lost in 3 sets and nearly 3 hours after having a 15-30 lead in the 2nd at 4-5. My opponent is good and I was prepared for a long one, didn't think I'd let it get away but he did a good job controlling the play.

vizsla

06-05-2009, 07:33 AM

Am captain of two teams (3.5 and 4.0). 4.0 won state two weeks ago. 3.5 team won state this past weekend.

Two teams going to Sectionals!!!

Blade0324

06-05-2009, 07:38 AM

Captaining my men's 3.5 team. we are 5-0 with 4 more to play and in 1st in our section, have only lost 3 individual matches so far. Hopefully we can keep the winning ways going for districts and sectionals. I'm also subbing on a 4.0 team that is 1-3 and I'm 1-1 there. Hopefully get moved to 4.0 at the end of the year.

pmacino

06-05-2009, 08:47 AM

We ended the season 8-1 and are on to the first round of playoffs the weekend after next.

Perry the Platypus

06-05-2009, 11:44 AM

My 4.5 team is 4-1 and we control our own destiny. If we win 2 of our last 4 matches we win locally.
My 8.0 team is 6-0 in first place, but there are two 6-1 teams on our heals and we have not played them yet.
My 9.0 team is 2-1 in second place, but we will need help to catch the 1st place team.

Storm_Kyori

06-11-2009, 10:53 PM

3.0 SoCal

2-2. We should be 4-0.
1st Team win 4-0 (After a Double Default)
2nd Lost 2-3 I needed to convert my singles match, but I had trouble closing out that 3rd set.
3rd Won 5-0 (2 Defaults from them and we won the remaining 3)
4th Lost 2-3 We won our singles matches, but they swept the doubles.

Sadly one of the teams made it to Nationals and had most of their players bumped up to 3.5 So they end up defaulting a lot of matches for lack of players.

We have 8 matches total with 4 remaining. I can't wait to get to 3.5, they have more teams to compete against. We play the same 2.

Assuming we win all matches left and so does the other team our record will be tied at 6-2. If that happens, does the team with a better overall win to losses and such move on? It would make sense.

Jim A

06-12-2009, 04:05 AM

rained out this week, but have been doing well in the rescheduled matches

as long as we pull that one out, our season comes down to next week when we play the 1st place team, should be fun and hopefully we pull it out

auzzieizm

06-12-2009, 04:13 AM

12-0 so far. Northern VA League 4.0

BiGGieStuFF

06-12-2009, 05:50 AM

7-0 in 4.0 mens in our division and 3-0 in 7.0 mixed.

Topaz

06-12-2009, 05:58 AM

Indoor team is 10-6, with 6 more matches to go.

Other team is 4-1.

Another is 3-1.

Cindysphinx

06-12-2009, 07:57 AM

Bad and getting worse.

Let's see. I have exactly one player with previous 3.5 doubles experience on Court One. That would be me.

One of my main partners (good 3.5) played with me recently and we lost. She wasn't herself at all. Wasn't moving even a little bit. After the match, she tells me she is pregnant, in the first trimester, and unable to play more matches due to fatigue (which totally explains her difficulties). She is out for the season and will also miss Districts in October for our Winter 6.5 team.

Had a lead on a new player for Court One. She kind of didn't get around to registering, and it is now too late in the season to bring on anyone new.

Meanwhile, my singles players are 3-9. Two of those wins were by default. One of those wins was a retirement. Which means the only way we have been able to win at singles is if the other team can't play the match! If you are going to cough up both singles lines every time, you have very little chance of winning the team match.

This leaves us in a three-way tie for last place, at 1-5. Oh, well.

heninfan99

06-12-2009, 08:12 AM

Ah, we keep losing 2-3. We actually would've won our first team match but one of my singles players got moved up because he played Division 3 tennis 18 years ago. Another time we ran into a team with way overrated players but it was fun to play guys that good. On our last team match two of our losses went to 3 sets so we were damn close. I'm still hopeful we'll get a team win before the season is over. We're still having fun but it's a lot more fun when you win. :-)

As a side note, as captain I've decided to stop chasing players who are not paying their court fee(s), I don't care how good they think they are. I'm also sick of players that whine and are super-picky about when and where they play. Step up & play or go away! :-)

cmartin

06-12-2009, 08:53 AM

Senior 4.5 team went 5-1 regular season (won league). Went 6-1 at states and won that. Now heading to Alabama in July. Mixed 9.0 just getting started (1-0).

snowpuppy

06-13-2009, 12:27 PM

Played my first doubles match for 3.5 after a maiden season of 6.0 Mixed in the winter. So far my team is falling more and more to the pit after winning the first match. At 1-3, lots of work to do!

Cindysphinx

06-13-2009, 12:48 PM

Oh, whew. We finally won one.

Other team defaulted Singles Two, and we lost Doubles 2 but won the other courts. Everyone seems so relieved. We're a lock not to finish last now, as two of the other bottom feeder teams have tougher opponents to close out the season.

CrocodileRock

06-13-2009, 03:32 PM

Congrats Cindy.

We finished undefeated, and are looking forward to sectionals in August. Now that my kids are grown, I might play in a couple of other leagues, like combo, or mixed, or tri-level. And next year, I'm eligible for seniors. Argghhh.

Munj

06-14-2009, 04:39 PM

This year was was my first trip to State and it was a blast. While personally I didn't play well my team won and we are headed to Sectionals.

EasleyTennis

06-15-2009, 08:48 AM

This year was was my first trip to State and it was a blast. While personally I didn't play well my team won and we are headed to Sectionals.

What state is your sectionals being played?

Munj

06-15-2009, 12:53 PM

Sectionals are in Birmingham, AL.

snowpuppy

06-15-2009, 01:56 PM

Oh, whew. We finally won one.

Other team defaulted Singles Two, and we lost Doubles 2 but won the other courts. Everyone seems so relieved. We're a lock not to finish last now, as two of the other bottom feeder teams have tougher opponents to close out the season.

Funny, my situation is reverse. We just got bump down to last with the last lost and now up to face the best team twice heading down the stretch. Fun....

Jim A

06-18-2009, 02:45 AM

we're 6-1 with a couple weeks to go, tied with two other teams atop the division. We need some breaks for it to go our way and get to Districts.

we played our doubles straight up and still swept them when they stacked, I took my singles in 3 sets. I lapsed in the first and had to bounce back in the 2nd/3rd with a 2 and 0 to grab another.

EasleyTennis

06-18-2009, 03:16 PM

Sectionals are in Birmingham, AL.

See you there.

SlapShot

06-18-2009, 08:00 PM

Team is now 3-3 with 4 matches to go. Top team is now 5-0, and 3 other teams are 3-3. We've been in every match, but can't seem to get that 3rd point on a tiebreak every match.

I'm currently 5-0, though, which is a solid start to the season. ;)

pmacino

06-21-2009, 07:26 PM

Today, we won our local playoffs for Seattle and will be heading to Sectionals in Portland the first weekend in August.

We are 10-1 for the season. Our one loss was our first match, coincidentally to the team we beat today in the finals.

Storm_Kyori

06-21-2009, 09:58 PM

My team so far got one win from a default (Last Saturday). They just couldn't get their players together and forfeited all 5 matches. Then yesterday, that same team played us at home. I actually didn't play, I had to work. They defaulted 2 matches. 1 singles and 1 doubles. We won the remaining 2 doubles and lost the last singles. a friend of mine got injured during his singles match. I think my capt. said it was his Achilles tendon, or something like that.

So we are at 4-2 with the top team still undefeated at 6-0. We will have the same record when we win our last two matches against them. I want to go to Sectionals, I want to play against different ppl. I hate seeing the same faces.

k-y

06-21-2009, 10:33 PM

Today, we won our local playoffs for Seattle and will be heading to Sectionals in Portland the first weekend in August.

We are 10-1 for the season. Our one loss was our first match, coincidentally to the team we beat today in the finals.

Congratz on a hard fought playoff win!

Did your lineup in the finals differ much from the 1st regular season match?

My sandbagging team got beat by a deeper sandbagging team =[ (we deserved to lose haha)

Romeo

06-22-2009, 04:58 AM

Our Senior team won and is going to sectionals in August. Our regular team is dead last.

SlapShot

06-22-2009, 05:20 AM

So my 7.0 mixed teams from Fall/Winter and Summer are both set to go to Sectionals...and we're likely going to take both teams. I expect that we'll likely take one of these teams to Nationals this year.

pmacino

06-22-2009, 07:56 AM

Congratz on a hard fought playoff win!

Did your lineup in the finals differ much from the 1st regular season match?

It was a nail biter and came down to the wire. Our normally strong singles players both lost and our dubs teams pulled through. We didn't differ that much from the first time we met, but we did make a minor change. I sat the finals out in the name of strategy. (which was personally tough) but, got us the win. I'm still learning doubles and I am a heavy hitter, we needed to take pace out of the match to win. It worked, so I couldn't be happier.

More than anything, we just practiced really, really hard throughout the season and improved. Many of our players were on a team that went to nationals last year and were bumped up. They knew what it took.

Our team was actually in the "B" Flight and we had to play our own "A" team in the Semi's. We're just really happy to have not beaten them for naught and carried on. They came out yesterday after we beat them 3-2 to cheer us on. Very Classy.

Rambling done. Yes, Amy Yee has some very very tough teams. I see the Luloff team beat the Bad Boyz II who comprised of Avanti's/Amy Yee's team that went to nationals last year as well.

Are you going to play tourney's now? Or do the TennisTour.org thing?

investorofmercy

06-24-2009, 12:48 PM

Currewntly(6-24) we are 3-0 and we have 3 matches left until playoffs. There is another 3-0 team in our division and we play them on the 12th of July, at which point we should both be 4-0. There are 8 flights in our district with 7 to 8 teams in each. Currently, there are 13 teams still undefeated halfway through the season, about average I assume.

We have a pretty strong team based on my experience with the other teams in the district and hope to do well. I would be glad to keep everyone updated if there is any interest.

Jim A

06-24-2009, 08:23 PM

Our team moved to 7-1 today, taking a 5-0 win. Our #1 doubles rebounded from losing a 5-3 lead in the 3rd to take the tiebreak and seal the shutout. Depending on how our rivals did this evening, we will need to win either 3 or 4 matches to clinch our Flight.

I took my match against a tough lefty, 4 and 2. He had a big serve but thankfully was misfiring a bit in the 2nd set and I started to find my range.

Now I have a 10 day break while I travel for work, too much hassle to bring the racquets/set up games, etc so its the gym instead.

Spokewench

06-25-2009, 12:32 PM

My 3.5 Team (the one I play on) won; so now I have to talk the gals into travelling to Albuquerque to the sectionals. I very doubtful that I will get enough ladies to go, but I am hopeful. I think it will be grand fun.

spoke

Cindysphinx

06-25-2009, 01:02 PM

If we can win our final match, we will finish at 4-5 and land in 5th place. We were 5th place last year, so at least we will not have lost ground this year.

That's a mighty big "if" though!

Topaz

06-27-2009, 09:49 AM

Indoor team finished 12-10, and two places out of playoffs. Still, a good, solid season.

DC team just had a bad loss, but not sure how that will affect things as we have three more matches to go, and in this league, it isn't your match wins, but your individual wins that determine your place.

Outdoor team needs to win one of our next two to advance to districts.

vizsla

06-27-2009, 10:11 AM

EasleyTennis:

How'd your team end up? Did you win state?

Sleepstream

06-27-2009, 11:19 AM

EasleyTennis:

How'd your team end up? Did you win state?

I believe his team is runner-up.

vizsla

06-27-2009, 11:23 AM

On 3.0 team?

Sleepstream

06-27-2009, 11:24 AM

On 3.0 team?

Not sure if I understand the question.

vizsla

06-27-2009, 11:30 AM

Does he play 3.0?

Sleepstream

06-27-2009, 11:33 AM

Does he play 3.0?

Yes, he does.

vizsla

06-27-2009, 11:43 AM

team must have gotten wildcard to sectionals, huh?

Sleepstream

06-27-2009, 11:44 AM

team must have gotten wildcard to sectionals, huh?

Believe so.

Maybe I should considering joining a league in the future.

seleswannabe

06-28-2009, 04:42 AM

My ladies 3.0 team is 18-1 on the season :) We have one last match on thursday that should go in our favor. We got a solid group of ladies on the team and should do well at playoffs.

Cindysphinx

06-28-2009, 04:53 AM

Indoor team finished 12-10, and two places out of playoffs. Still, a good, solid season.

DC team just had a bad loss, but not sure how that will affect things as we have three more matches to go, and in this league, it isn't your match wins, but your individual wins that determine your place.

Outdoor team needs to win one of our next two to advance to districts.

Heh, heh.

Yeah, the bad loss was to my team. I didn't play -- we are also struggling to try to win the division and go to sectionals, so they only fielded the strong players. That wouldn't be me.

I dunno, Topaz. I don't think it looks good for either of our teams. It would take a major melt-down by the No. 1 team, and I don't see it happening.

The weird thing is, our team has very good doubles players, and our singles players win all of their matches, pretty much. Our doubles players just could not get it done. It is frustrating, because this league has those irritating 90-minute matches, so if you fall behind you often don't have time to catch up.

Cindysphinx

06-28-2009, 04:57 AM

If we can win our final match, we will finish at 4-5 and land in 5th place. We were 5th place last year, so at least we will not have lost ground this year.

That's a mighty big "if" though!

Huzzah!! My 3.5 team won its final match (thanks in part to receiving a default on No. 2 singles and No. 3 doubles). That left us tied for fifth place. We had won 21 sets and the other team had won 18 sets, so we land in fifth out of ten teams.

We didn't default any courts, despite having a roster that was too small and a bunch of injuries. And I won my No. 1 doubles match 6-2, 6-2 and played reasonably well against two nice opponents. It was a sweet way to close out the season!!

Topaz

06-28-2009, 08:58 AM

Heh, heh.

Yeah, the bad loss was to my team. I didn't play -- we are also struggling to try to win the division and go to sectionals, so they only fielded the strong players. That wouldn't be me.

I dunno, Topaz. I don't think it looks good for either of our teams. It would take a major melt-down by the No. 1 team, and I don't see it happening.

The weird thing is, our team has very good doubles players, and our singles players win all of their matches, pretty much. Our doubles players just could not get it done. It is frustrating, because this league has those irritating 90-minute matches, so if you fall behind you often don't have time to catch up.

Your team has a very strong 3.5 singles player in AP. BG is a sandbagger, pure and simple. And she knows it, or she wouldn't be playing (and winning) at 4.0 singles. *shrug* My team has always been about going out there and having a good time and playing our best. Still have three matches left, at least for us. Remember, DC comes down to individual match wins, and some teams are a match ahead because of rain-outs and the bye week. I think it will come down to the last week. Your team is sitting pretty, IMO.

I'm going to VA districts, though, with my outdoor team.

Cindysphinx

06-28-2009, 11:27 AM

Hey, BG is a computer-rated 3.5 player who plays 3.5 and 4.0. I have heard she keeps getting bumped to 4.0, where she loses. Then she gets bumped back down, and she is currently in the 3.5 portion of her cycle.

I don't think that makes her a sandbagger. It makes her someone who is playing the level the computer placed her. She doesn't throw games, that much is certain!!

[edit: I stand corrected. Apparently, she joined USTA in 2008 and self-rated as a 4.0. Didn't do too well; losing all of her 7.0 mixed matches. Which is why she has a 3.5 M rating, which means she could get DQ'd. She's subject to three-strikes and is *pounding* everyone, so if she hasn't been DQ'd I guess she is playing the proper level . . . ]

Topaz

06-28-2009, 02:01 PM

Uh hunh. I'm always wary of the 'M' rating. Beating KZ 0 and 2 will generate a strike, of that I'm certain. Though, are you sure she is capable of getting DQ'd? Because I would think, given that she's winning at 4.0 singles and how she has, yes, *pounded* people at 3.5, that the DQ would have happened by now.

If she is in danger of a DQ and it happens, that could affect your team's standing.

See, I look at it this way. She didn't actually play 4.0 women's in 2008, which generated a rating that could or could not be accurate. IMO, if it is a T or an M it may or may not be accurate. Around here, with the amount of teams we have, I think adult league will give you the most accurate rating.

Here in 2009, she is playing a *lot* of 4.0 singles matches, which tells me she knows her *competitive* level to be 4.0. Now, the computer says she is 3.5, so she also gets to beat up on 3.5s. She has this year to take advantage of the inaccurate rating. Is it wrong of her to do so? Hmmm, that's hard to say. Was it wrong for Raiden to do so? Also hard to say. But, IMO, it is sandbagging. Would I do it differently if I were in her shoes? Honestly, I can say that I would or would not.

Regardless, the computer will catch up eventually. And you are right, she definitely does not throw games.

Cindysphinx

06-28-2009, 03:10 PM

Only C and B players are immune from DQ. So she could be DQ'd.

I think the most logical explanation for her winding up with a poor doubles record and a good singles record is that um . . .

:: lowers voice to a whisper ::

She's not very good at the net. So she would have a hard time in mixed doubles, perhaps. Yet she would be very good at banging the ball from the baseline against 3.5 women.

I don't know her well enough to know why she didn't play 4.0 or 3.5 last spring. But keep in mind that she is on my 4.0 team. A start-up team, the kind that will take a bunch of 3.5s playing up. She probably just didn't know anyone and so didn't get on a team.

I think it would be a stretch to suggest she had a Master Plan to spend a season getting crushed in 7.0 mixed for the purpose of allowing her to debut in 3.5 singles and spank everyone.

I feel like *someone* is going to be the strongest player out there. BG may be it for 3.5 singles. So long as she plays honestly and doesn't throw games and lets the computer sort it out, it is all fair.

And yes, she may get DQ'd. If I were her captain, I would play her anyway. Our team surely will not advance if she sits the bench out of fear of a DQ.

TennisND

06-29-2009, 09:16 AM

Is is true that all the leagues will have play-off or more? I captain a team in a single league, which is told that would not count toward your rating. We are doing quite well now and I wonder if we have playoff?

innoVAShaun

06-29-2009, 11:31 AM

Our local Singles League also has a State Championship. That's the farthest it goes.

Spokewench

06-30-2009, 02:03 PM

Well, just as I thought, my 3.5 women's adult team could go to Sectionals, but with the small teams we were able to field, we don't have enough people who can attend.

Drat!

:(

Perry the Platypus

07-02-2009, 05:50 AM

4.5 team went 8-1 and is headed to districts
8.0 team went 9-0 and is headed to districts
9.0 team is 2-5 and is bringing up the rear....

Jim A

07-02-2009, 09:08 AM

We won last night and are headed to Districts. Guess I should play some tournaments in the meantime to keep sharp, but mostly work on things for playoffs.

k-y

07-05-2009, 12:32 PM

Thanks.

It was a nail biter and came down to the wire. Our normally strong singles players both lost and our dubs teams pulled through. We didn't differ that much from the first time we met, but we did make a minor change. I sat the finals out in the name of strategy. (which was personally tough) but, got us the win. I'm still learning doubles and I am a heavy hitter, we needed to take pace out of the match to win. It worked, so I couldn't be happier.

More than anything, we just practiced really, really hard throughout the season and improved. Many of our players were on a team that went to nationals last year and were bumped up. They knew what it took.

Our team was actually in the "B" Flight and we had to play our own "A" team in the Semi's. We're just really happy to have not beaten them for naught and carried on. They came out yesterday after we beat them 3-2 to cheer us on. Very Classy.

Rambling done. Yes, Amy Yee has some very very tough teams. I see the Luloff team beat the Bad Boyz II who comprised of Avanti's/Amy Yee's team that went to nationals last year as well.

Are you going to play tourney's now? Or do the TennisTour.org thing?

Dunno, definitely need to schedule a regular singles practice match during the week along with my usual weekly doubles. Whenever I practice at Bellevue High to enjoy the sunshine, there always seems to be a TennisTour singles match or two going on at the same time.

Blade0324

07-08-2009, 01:38 PM

Undefeated 9-0 now off to districts the end of July.

mlwang80

07-10-2009, 05:12 AM

my 4.0 team went 7-3 but lost in the 1st round of the play offs due to some questionable moves by the captain in my opinion. He played a few players that left a lot of people scratching his head. He decided to play some new doubles pairings and having people who have barely played all season play in the playoffs. Obviously these were guys the captain were friends with. NOT SURPRINGLY, all of those moves cost us the win in the first round.

mutantducky

07-10-2009, 09:16 AM

I've heard that story quite a few times. Let the captain know and for the playoffs there should be some kind of consensus on what the roster should be.

Topaz

07-11-2009, 01:12 PM

Outdoor team finished 2-1 in our flight at districts (states), so a good, solid ending to the season, even if we didn't advance.